Wednesday, April 28, 2010

So after hearing about Twin Peaks in passing many times before, a good friend begun watching it a couple of weeks ago and raved about it. So I found it online one evening and decided to try the pilot. I watched three more episodes in one sitting. I'm hooked. I'm only on episode seven of season two so don't spoil me yet!

For those who aren't familiar with it, Twin Peaks is a cult 90s TV series directed by David Lynch that follows the investigation, headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), of the brutal murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer. The show's name comes from its setting, a small fictional Washington town.

My oh my, for a small town the women certainly are stunning. My favourite characters are Agent Cooper, femme fatale Audrey and ditsy secretary Lucy, who has a penchant for loudly patterned jumpers.

I've been getting sartorial inspiration from the series too. The clothes are very 90s, lots of oversized jumpers, plaid button-ups and tight pants, long skirts and calve boots for the girls. The make-up is subtle, with the emphasis on lips and the eyebrows. Although some trends are best left in the nineties, when you look as good as these ladies do baggy skirts don't seem so dated after all. (But I won't be picking up on this dear reader.)

A lot of things happen in small towns. Well in television land at least.

Who killed Laura Palmer?

I have a vintage Biba shirt sort of like this one! Look at that for perfectly teased hair though. Damn.

Not all the hair is big though, it can be slick and sexy too. It works. Maybe only Cooper can work this without looking like a sleazy businessman.

Also I found this amusing, seems that Lynch has a whole repertoire of advertisements under his belt. I don't quite understand the girl at the end, but whatever.

Now no more posting for the next three weeks. I have the serious business of exams. I got one completed today though, so only four left. I took the evening off and watched episodes of Twin Peaks of course.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Ah, alas exams are approaching fast and I shan't have time to flesh out this blog, as much as I'd like to. I have so many ideas, but so little time to carry them out.

For now, a simple 'what I wore' post must suffice. So what I wore today. The days are getting warmer, but there is still a chill in the air. I wore this to photocopy revision notes for my exams. I only managed to cover two topics, out of five. Finals are always daunting and slightly saddening. I enjoy the atmosphere around exam time... bumping into classmates, the frantic last minute revision in the sunshine, students milling around the exam hall, waiting restlessly in your seat for the papers to be handed out whilst winking at your friend two aisles away, recognizing someone from your class that you spoke to once in passing in first year and so on... Oh, I'm a swot, I don't deny it! Do you agree, do you enjoy exam time? (Besides the revision!)

Dress, vintage. Brogues, Office. Lace ankle socks, Topshop.

Blazer, Zara. Brooch, Topshop.

Taking pictures is a bit of a struggle in my compact university dorm room. The summer will mean more space & light.

& what I'm listening to...

G'night sweethearts! (Early start tomorrow, late journals to complete and my last day of term.)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Firstly, let me inform you that I’m not very good at talking about myself, never mind writing about myself, so under these circumstances, blessedly for you reader, this means I will (hopefully) be brief.

I turned twenty-one in December, being a ‘twenty something’ doesn’t sit quite well with my yet, but so far into the third decade of my life I much prefer being here than in my teens. I’m from a town (technically city, by Irish standards) on the North-West coast of Ireland. It’s beautiful, but also very windy, and very small so as a result, everyone knows everyone, not so fortunately for me as there’s a great deal of people I don’t want to know. I came to Dublin in the autumn of 2007, to begin my undergraduate studies in U.C.D., studying history and art history, both of which I enjoy immensely and shy as I am, I have made some wonderful friends, whom I’ll have for life. At the moment I am in my final semester and like most Arts graduates, I’m uncertain to where my life is going, but that’s the mystery of it all.

What are my hobbies and interests? I read, of course, lots of people do. I’m ‘bookish’. I was the sort of child, in primary school, who used to sneak books between the covers of my textbook during class and become absorbed in the story of another strange girl, who lived in rural Prince Edward Island, had a fierce temper and craved to meet ‘kindred spirits’ and lived in a house with green gables and a cherry blossom tree outside her bedroom window. (Guessed yet?) My favourite novel is a tie between Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. I also enjoy Waugh, Nabovkov, Woolf, Forster, Mitford and Dodie Smith.
I’ve been a vegetarian for five years. I used to paint (watercolours) and liked to draw with charcoal. Hopefully I can resume both soon. I try to mend my own clothes, not very successfully mind you. I’ve been a keen internet user since about 2001, the main attraction being Buffy and Angel fan fiction on geocities. This is not my first website, I’ve had a couple but thankfully these have been long lost in the black hole of the internet. I still use livejournal though.

This is turning into quite the essay! I do apologise, if you’ve managed to struggle on this far.

Why a blog? Well during the summer, with all my friends far away from me and some doubt about my future prospects, I thought ‘Why not?’, sure even if everyone and their aunt has one, why not me. I hope it will reach some ‘kindred spirits’! I have an unusual outlook on life, considering where I’m from, and I hope it is reflected in my musings.

What will I put here? Anything that passes my fancy really, be it inspiration - films, friends, fictional characters and maybe some outfit posts, my travels, the quiet life, all sorts! I like to write and want some sort of creative outlet, so here we are.

small town girl

Zoë, 24 year old art history graduate, from Sligo, Ireland. Searching for culture in the West of Ireland and beyond. Writes about the arts, culture, film and feminism. "The one thing I regret is that I will never have time to read all the books I want to read." (Francoise Sagan)(About)